


Barry and Flower

by unrelatedchickenfire



Category: Magium
Genre: F/M, Kinda dark I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 17:22:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13722456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unrelatedchickenfire/pseuds/unrelatedchickenfire
Summary: Just FYI I spent about fourty minutes writing the first one and then I edited it a lot afterwards, so it's short, but I spent an entire week writing the second one, so that's long, but I intended it to be that way.If you have any thoughts afterwards please leave a review in the comments. I'll be so grateful. The fact that you checked out my dreadful fanfics makes me grateful enough though.I apologize for any cringe that you may experience.My email is dj.drummer568@gmail.com, which you can use if you want to personally tell me anything (praise, criticism, or just thoughts).





	1. Barry and Flower (or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just FYI I spent about fourty minutes writing the first one and then I edited it a lot afterwards, so it's short, but I spent an entire week writing the second one, so that's long, but I intended it to be that way. 
> 
> If you have any thoughts afterwards please leave a review in the comments. I'll be so grateful. The fact that you checked out my dreadful fanfics makes me grateful enough though.
> 
> I apologize for any cringe that you may experience. 
> 
> My email is dj.drummer568@gmail.com, which you can use if you want to personally tell me anything (praise, criticism, or just thoughts).

Barry and Flower  
(or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance) 

(Around Book 1, Chapter 11) 

Prologue  
During the days in which Barry camped out with the usual group, he came across many unanticipated moments, mostly unfortunate ones. But the encounter with Flower in the river was something Barry could have never imagined during his short, pathetic life. It was a fine day in the forest, which was filled with various animals and monsters scurrying about through the pine trees. The river was certainly nice, mild and cool, and it had simply been inevitable that Flower wanted a bath in it. Illuna agreed to the suggestion, and so they quickly jumped in after giving Arraka to Hadrik, who gladly began swinging her, and telling Kate to keep the men away. They were not concerned with such issues as they, Illuna really, had the ability to detect certain sort of beings with an aura from a mile away. Barry stumbled upon them right around the time they both decided to take a nap.

Barry  
I walked into the thick part of the woods searching for anything that might lead towards Flower when I was told by Daren that we were soon going to the city of Thilias, where we would drop off Rose to continue out our journey. Going to fetch Flower was something I had never had to do before, but Daren had said that we were getting behind schedule with the whole thing. I thought it was strange that Flower was taking so long with whatever it was she was doing in the woods. It had been three hours already since she had gone. I spent about half an hour searching in vain until I came across a pile of distinctly shaped and colored clothes. I realized they were Flower's clothes that looked similar to a clown's clothes. I went crazy the second I saw the clothes.. My first thoughts were that she must've been devoured by some unusually powerful monster, as Flower and Illuna were quite powerful themselves. I yelled her name a few times, but there was no sign of her. Picking up her clothes, I walked into a stream and was surprised to find Flower asleep on the edge of the other side. She was almost aroused by the presence of me, but quickly fell into deep sleep again that I myself would've fallen into easily in the gentle pass of the river. She was nearly snoring, which I found weirdly amusing. The entire situation was amusing. A virtually ten year old girl sleeping naked in a river out in the middle of nowhere. After admiring her little body for a second, I decided that maybe I could splash some water at her to awake her, but a second thought told me not to ruin it. I calmly walked across the river which came up only to my mid upper thighs towards a naked Flower. Relax, I told myself. I deserve some fun after all that mess with the ogres. I was still tired as heck by the way. I laid myself next to Flower in the water, leaning on my side to keep my face dry. But mostly to look at Flower. Her angelic face almost glowed with an aura I had not noticed before. I figured it might be coming from Illuna. I reached my arm out a couple of inches and touched Flower softly on the shoulder. When she did not awake I shook it a little. She then awoke with a slightly confused expression.  
"Where are we?" she mumbled with a yawn.  
"In a river out in nowhere," I said casually.  
She looked down at her nude body and flinched, then glanced quickly at me, but I was not looking at her. I stared off into the distance with nothing much on my mind. The view of Thilias was captivating from there. I sort of wondered why this river, not so high up in the hills had such a nice view. Then I simply felt the truth. Ignorance is such bliss. Not knowing, even when you have so many problems, is unbelievably remedial. Just don't think about the problem, and anyone will feel the exact feeling I felt that moment. Complete happiness and tranquility.  
Flower was looking very humiliated and flustered as she looked around and at me right next to her.  
"What's going on Barry?" she asked with concern and nervousness.  
"What do you mean? Nothing," I said with a poker face. "Nothing at all. Look Flower, let's forget about everything for a moment. The monsters, the dungeons, Eiden, and the danger lurking around every corner. Just clear it off from your mind for a while. It'll make you feel better. Trust me."  
She slowly took in my words and just laid back into the water. I turned toward her and just stared at her worried expression. Then it sort of relaxed.  
"Barry, I have no idea what you're doing here. Please, will you explain your mere existence with me here in the river while I'm fully naked?"  
"Don't take it the wrong way Flower, but I wanted to tell you that I find everything about you so appealing. You're such an animated and enthusiastic girl. And you're so powerful compared to me. I love talking to you, because it's nothing like the complicated and needless talk I usually have with everyone else, maybe with the exception of Rose. But she's overweight, Flower, and I don't really find her likable. Don't you understand now? I love the calm and nonchalant chats I could have with you. But mostly I love everything about you."  
Flower continued staring at me with a still expression that appeared to be deep in thought, but I knew her mind was as empty as mine at that moment. Because she unexpectedly grabbed me and kissed me on the lips. She let go quickly and bounced toward her small pile of clothes, which she snatched up and put on methodically. I watched her nude body go fully clothed with longing. How I wanted to have her was too much. Way too much. I pounced at her like a madman, losing control of the wits I had had seconds ago and ripped Flower's clothes off her. I pulled out my dick and shoved it into her as gently as I could. But it was barely gentle, as she was basically tackled by my overwhelming body and fucked the shit out of her. She gasped at times and yelped like an injured animal, but she also looked into my face with a slight grin she could not conceal. After hours of passionate sex I could not have gotten from the lousy body of Rose, I pulled my clothes back on and continued to cuddle with Flower, lying together in the soft bushes. Still breathing heavily, she was touching her wet, slimy vagina with curiosity and worry. She must be a virgin, I thought. She was, anyway...  
"I'm sorry. Is it sore?" I asked.  
"No it's fine. Just barely sore, but it doesn't even compare with the feeling I had during the entirety of the past few hours." Flower said.  
"...." I grinned slightly.  
"So what am I gonna do now? You ripped my clothes to ragged shreds. Surely you have some vague idea about what I should do?"  
"I have not the slightest idea," I said bluntly. What were we gonna do?  
"Well, maybe I'll work the illusion spell on myself to make it appear as if I'm dressed, until I can find some other clothes from my bag."  
"Sounds good. I could lend you some of my own clothes."  
"They won't fit Barry, you'd know that. It's no problem."  
Flower got up and professionally waved her hands at her body, which gradually got engulfed in a spell. Then the clothes appeared.  
"Let's head back quickly before any of our friends suspect anything."  
"It's too late for that. We've been out here for ages. The sun is already setting you know."  
Flower whirled and saw that it was indeed early in the evening. She gazed at the sun for a few minutes before muttering, "You got me good Barry... Didn't even realize I've been starving...Oh.."  
Girl, what did you think you'd realize, I thought. Your insides have been full of me for the past few hours.

Flower  
'Illuna are you there?' I asked in my mind as Barry and I headed toward camp. I knew she was still asleep, but I wanted to make sure. When there was no response in our mind, I sighed with relief. Illuna won't know then. I don't want her to know I'm having an affair with Barry. This whole thing jitters me to think about it. She'll know the instant she finds out that I've gone psychopathic once and for all. But she'll be wrong to think that. I'm not crazy. Barry is such an amazing human being to be around. As we walked back to camp, where everyone would have either left without us already or still be present with utter frustration, I told Barry, "I was thinking maybe we could leave Daren and Kate and Rose and Hadrik so that we could go on on our own." I squeezed his arm and looked up at his face. He was frowning a little. He gave no answer, so I assumed it to be a no.  
When we got to camp, everyone was pacing around with impatience. Daren seemed ready to have a fit of rage. I'm worried about his stress level. He worries himself too much.  
"Goddammit Barry I told you to hurry up. Now we're late with Rose's herbs she was supposed to give to the patients. They might be suffering because of us. Because of you!!" As Daren yelled this and that, I felt Barry's rage and contempt grow by the second. Then he cracked up.  
"Shut up Daren. You always make things sound like a huge problem. It's been getting on my nerves recently, OK. Just shut up and leave. All of you. And Kate, I just wanted to tell you that I'm disgustingly sick of the way you act. Quit giving me that cold glare. What, you think of yourself as almost my sister or something. Are we really that close? No. We're not. OK. Accept it. Everyone leave."  
Kate seemed to be the most shocked one out of the four. Rose was scowling at Barry with disappointment, but she shrugged the matter off like it was nothing. She grabbed her bag of herbs and possessions and stormed out of the camp area where they'd only yesterday shared past war stories and enjoyed laughs over a warm, cozy fire.  
Hadrik muttered something like "oh come on Barry, where has your tackiness gone?", but he also shuffled away from the scene with his bag slung over his shoulder. I watched as he caught up with Rose, talking to her.  
Daren also couldn't loosen the scowl on his face. "Well, alright Barry alright. I'll contact you using the transceivers if anything happens afterwards... If only you'd answered yours while you were searching for Flower. I don't know what happened with Flower's disappearance, but you could've at least asked us for help or any—" Barry threw his fragile transceiver onto a nearby rock, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. Daren left without another word, clearly pissed off. Kate, now seemingly having gathered herself from the shock, beckoned for me to follow. When I didn't, she frowned even harder.  
"Flower—" she began to say.  
"She's with me Kate," Barry said with authority. "Now leave, so we can get our own things in peace."  
Kate paced away from us.  
We got our things and stood for a moment. It was once again a hot, clear summer day in Varathia.  
"What now Barry? Is there any place you want to go in particular?" I asked. I felt empty inside. Seeing such good friends break apart like that had been a bit too much for me.  
"Let's camp around for longer until we hear more about the announcements about the tournament," Barry said as he sat on a rock with his head in his hands. "I'm very tired right now. I think we should head back to the river. It's nice there. But mostly I need some rest." We had sex for like three freaken hours. Of course you need a rest. I put my tiny hands into his messy hair, watching my thin fingers vanish into the thick strands.  
"I'll follow you anywhere." And I knew that I would as I said it.


	2. Barry and Flower (or The Unending Conviction Of Ignorance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuance.

Barry and Flower  
(or The Unending Conviction Of Ignorance) 

 

Rose  
I was so mad at first, but now I felt this inexplicably complex feeling of sorrow start to develop inside my chest. I couldn't even start with Barry. I could not bring myself to talk about him, despite all that which was swimming in my thoughts. This whole matter has made me completely hysterical. I didn't care about losing my mind, though everyone else was visibly concerned about me and me only. Trying to forget about Barry and Flower wasn't an option. Yet, I did not want to consult with the others about what had happened.  
Whatever. What did it matter? I barely knew this man anyway, and if I had gotten to know him, I would've immediately sensed his innate selfishness. It was all acting. I'm positive. Being a gentleman to appear good-natured and making jokes about my breasts to lure me into his possession when he was in fact a failure who had not a single thing better to do than join this rigged tournament as a means of making his rotten life a little more exciting. All of this is simply a game for Barry. A game in which he could be something he obviously was not. What a dumb thing that stat device is. I laughed when I thought about him. He's a stupid loser.  
At the same time I felt grossed out by his repulsive actions. It disgusts me. What a twisted man he is. What a savage and ignorant fella!!! How could he? How could he just do that? I felt my stomach rumbling with tight discomfort at the vile thoughts. The cheese sandwich I'd had for lunch was churning around like acid poison in my guts.  
"Kate, I need.. to..." I whispered, as my headache grew worse. I was going to say that I needed some aspirin for my overwhelming headache, but words failed me when the pain shot between my temples. Tears of distress leaked from the sides of my squinted eyes, but they were streaming down by the time I had dabbed them with my sleeve. I soon realized I was weeping. When my trusty knees began quivering, I knew I was done for.  
The trees swayed in my watery vision as Daren and Kate became little brown and grey figures rushing towards me. My legs crumpled as they both caught me by the elbows.  
"Dear god, Rose, you look terrible!!" Kate shouted in a panicky voice. She and Daren set me slowly onto the rough ground. Within seconds I had blacked out.

 

Eiden  
What a sad, miserable way to depart from your only true friends, I thought. Barry had disappointed me so much. I had had such high expectations of him, so perhaps I myself was to be solely blamed.  
After eating an apple and some nuts for supper, out of mere boredom I had teleported with the invisibility spell on to where Barry and Flower were in the woods. Of course, I hadn't suspected a thing until I'd come up close enough to Flower to detect her illusion spell. It was an amateur mistake on her side for having casted the weakest one from the books. When I at first sensed her nudity, I was baffled greatly by it, but I simply went on to presume that she must've lost her clothes in some fight, but again, when Flower held onto Barry's arm and asked him about leaving their friends, the shape of the situation disturbingly dawned on me. When he got to camp, only to scold reproachfully at his few and only allies, I had to just leave.  
It hadn't been a good idea anyway. I had believed that he was the right person I'd spent decades hopelessly searching for all along. The ideal chief to gather the diminishing amount of willing mages of this tournament to fight Tyrath and his minions and the nobles of all the cities. He would've made a respectable leader. To me, he was young, decent, pretty honest, humbled by his ordinary features, and quite the intellectual half-lessathi. Now, I knew it had all been a dream within my narrow-minded plans.  
I pity all the humans who suffer at each other's deplorable demeanors, but I shall pity them no more, because with another flick of my notorious fingers I will deliver painless and instant death to all the young and the old and agonizing torture for the rest before I slowly burn them to their deaths. It will be quite a show. One I won't be able to resist from. I do not care how horrifying my antics may turn out to be. They chose this. They chose this, not me. They had forced me to decide upon disposing of them in such ways.  
"These puny little sword-wielding fools, thinking they got all the power and money to lord over every other thick-headed weakling. What a whole lot of fuck-ups they are. I'm sick of it," I muttered with distaste.  
I wondered to myself why I hadn't killed every breathing soul centuries before. There was no point at all in their existence. They had to die. That was the only way to cleanse this world of all the problems caused by humans, mages, lessathi, stillwaters, banshees and all the monsters alike. I would only allow a few species of herbivorous animals to live in eternal harmony, if such a thing could exist. Maybe among a couple species of completely benign animals, I thought.  
I headed towards my sack, which was a pile of hay in an abandoned barn out in the empty fields where civilization had taken place years ago. It was easily one of the most comfortable places where I could meditate or contemplate matters for days at a time. I relished spending my time in vast areas devoid of people. I certainly knew how peaceful places were when humans weren't roaming about everywhere. The calmness of nature when the people weren't there to ruin it. This was better for the environment.  
I'm still skeptical of course. I'd considered keeping some honest and diligent citizens alive, but they may quickly realize they were in power without all the nobles and start fights with each other for ranks in the kingdoms. Perhaps King Golmyck could control the good crowd. Perhaps not.  
For now, I decided I would sleep on it. 

 

Kate  
Inside the cool tent Rose and I took refuge from the late evening heat. It was spacious enough for Rose to lie down and for me to watch over her. Daren and Hadrik were lingering by the trees, unsure of what to do. We had already discussed at length about what we should do with Rose's herbs that needed to be delivered. Hadrik had suggested that he jog alone to Thilias and to the hospital, asking for directions if necessary, but I'd briskly pointed out the fact that the guards were probably not going to allow his entrance as they didn't know him.  
"And they will certainly know you're not living there. None of us can go without Rose, because without her we have no proof that we're visiting as friendly mages," I had argued reluctantly. To tell the truth, I wanted to barge into the city after knocking out the guards at the front gate, miraculously race to the hospital after learning the directions, shove the herbs into some random doctor's arms and escape the city without a scratch. Obviously, I doubted the security around the city would be that tragically managed.  
So there was nothing we could do about it, except take care of Rose and hope that she'll get better. Daren had given her two pills of aspirin and had already cast healing spells for every place of her body, but it appeared as though there was barely any effect. We figured it was stress and fatigue that drove her insane.  
I placed my stiff palm onto her sweating forehead and sat motionless for hours, still thinking of what might've gotten Barry so pissed off. How could he be sick of us? We'd traveled together for only like six days including today. What is wrong with him? I couldn't even begin to guess what had been his motive behind the separation. And why in hell would Flower want to go along with him? It was apparent that somehow they stroke a deal. Whatever it was, it had made him really want to be rid of us. I couldn't imagine what it might even be. All I knew for sure was that he was just another selfish brat hoping to win this disastrous tournament.  
When Rose's shivering got to the point of being visible from three feet away, I grabbed her hands and tried without success to tuck the blanket more tightly around her. My blanket was way too small for an obese gal like Rose. I secretly loathed how unfit she was overall, but I had to cut these civilians some slack. Most of them were naturally weak and either over or underweight from spending half their lives shuffling paperwork or being merchants. Living in the city was a whole different concept from living in the open.  
I realized Rose was conscious now. She squeezed my hands and tried to get up. After heaving herself up into an upright position with my aid, she sat for a few minutes making eye contact with me. She seemed to be trying to find the right words to say, but who knows, she may have just been in a blank trance. Eventually she spoke, and when she did, she said it almost in a whisper.  
"Barry, that bitch, he and Flower were definitely doing something." Her face returned to the pale color it had been before she had fainted.  
"Yeah I know. They probably came up with some covert plan behind our backs," I said.  
"No, they were... they were.." She frowned as if she was nauseated by the thoughts. Her words were slurred and incoherent to the point of sounding like a drunk. She seemed literally insane.  
"What Rose? Do you know something else that I don't know? What is it?" Even though I knew Rose wasn't feeling so hot, I wanted to press on if she knew something.  
"So I'm guessing none of you guys saw it? You really didn't notice it in the frenzy of the situation, eh? Oh you all must've been blind or something. Seriously, I couldn't bear for another second to stand around there!! What with those two tryna usher us away from their ill-fated relationship!! Flower, didn't you even glance at Flower? By which I mean her NAKED body? She wasn't even shameful of it. Hugging Barry's thigh like the little whore she is. That little whore fucked him! I swear she did it. Barry, that sonovabitch fucked her!!!"

 

Barry  
In my dreams I was back at home with my parents and my sister. It was back in the days when I was a normal teenager attending a seminary in the village. We were sitting around the dining table, eating as we talked to each other about our day. As usual, I explained that I'd had another forgetful day at the seminary learning plenty of bullshit to last me the rest of my life, but also getting to hang out with a few friends. The days were always identical to each other. Nothing special ever happened to our family, that is, until my sister got possessed by a banshee and murdered Mom and Dad anyway. We were always content with farming grains and running a mechanic's shop. We sold useful devices and fixed things up for a fairly cheap price. Things had been so stable back then. Our family had saved up so much gold that I didn't need to work ever again after everyone got killed. I had sold the shop and the farmland to make a living out in the woods where I was able to live in solitude. I grew my own crops and tinkered with machinery for years. Things had been so simple. I missed my home, but I also knew the adventures that awaited me. I was going to win the tournament. Either that, or I was going to die anyway. I had made that decision long ago. Also, I had figured, why not enjoy the simple desires along the way? Of course, I can.  
My dreams and my thoughts faded away.  
I groaned as I slowly awoke from my sleep, coming to reality to find myself in my tent with Flower moving up and down on top of me. Huh, what in hell is she doing? Oh, we're having sex. That's.. Certainly nice.  
I rubbed my eyes and looked at Flower's enchanting smile. She leaned down and smooched clumsily on my lips without a pause in the legs. Then she continued without a word, leaning on my chest. Her tense vagina squeezed me unusually hard, making me catch my breath at times.  
"How long have you been, like, raping me for?" I asked sarcastically.  
"Maybe for less than an hour? Illuna went back to sleep like seven hours after you went to bed, so we'll have a lot of time alone." She grinned shyly. "It's gonna be dawn soon."  
Looking into those malicious eyes of Flower, I realized that she was addicted. It had only been half a day since we first had sex, and yet, here she was before I was even awake. Luckily, the body of a banshee couldn't have any offsprings, so we didn't need to worry about her getting pregnant. But I did think that having too much sex might damage her insides, considering how long we took. This got me to fret over her for a second, but not enough to put a stop to it.  
Long after we were done, she insisted that we lie together for a while. The dark stuffy inside of the tent provided us with the sense that we were the last two beings left on earth. With her damp body against me, the sweat trickled from her and onto me. Ignoring the fact that it was going to be morning soon, Flower was snoring quietly. Even when I stroked her long, scarlet hair, her slumber went on uninterrupted. Then I remembered that she hadn't slept at all the entire night, talking to Illuna and fervently assuring her that leaving with me was all part of the plan Daren had come up with. Illuna, taking Flower's credible words, had to concede. After that, Illuna went to sleep, so... What if she woke up in this position before Flower did? I wouldn't be able to offer any explanations. She was naked and my pants were... somewhere not here. Ugh, I didn't want to wake Flower up though, so I decided to do nothing for now, hoping Illuna would sleep forever.  
Ah, forget about it. So what if something like that were to happen. If we continued living like this, which I without a question wanted badly, we would have to explain it to Illuna sometime. Anytime will suffice.  
"Everything is good," I whispered to myself. "We're gonna have to worry over this some other time. Not now. I'm determined not to ruin my moments because of petty things like other people knowing."  
My eyelids eventually closed, and I once again fell into the deep oblivion I knew and loved. 

 

Daren  
"Holy flipping mother of Hades," Hadrik mumbled. I looked up to see Hadrik pointing at a vomiting Rose by the shrubs with a concerned Kate supporting her shoulder. "What is up with her? I mean seriously, Daren, did she catch a serious cold or something?"  
I, as the designated doctor/healer, was always diagnosing people as well as healing them. Honestly, I might as well work as a full-time doctor at a hospital, considering how useless I was in other specialties. Even my fighting techniques were worse than a barehanded giant who normally fought in a dwarf form anyway. I silently cursed myself before saying to Hadrik about how she seemed to be mostly stressed out and tired.  
"I'm sure it isn't anything severe," I sighed. "Come on, let's pack our bags and leave to Thilias already. It's almost noon."  
"Daren, look at Rose's condition right now. Despite having rested for more than sixteen hours, she looks like hell itself!! We're gonna have to spend some time around here." Hadrik paused. Then he said cheerfully, "On that note, what say we play some cards?" Hadrik grinned as he looked at me like a pervert. I instantly knew he wanted to drink dwarven ale with me. What an outright damn drunk he was.  
"No, Hadrik not now," I said as my temper increased uncontrollably. "Listen, we have to get to Thilias fast, Ok? After examining the herbs, I learned that they were a variety of painkillers and drugs that are imperative for anyone who's suffering from pain, which, mind you, is like fifty percent of the patients at any hospital, so unless we get there fast, several people with any sickness that causes great pain will DIE from the shock of the pain or the stress induced by all the goddamn PAIN. So Hadrik, why don't you tell me again that we should just drink some of your stupid shit and play some fucked up card games while people are dying left and right in the emergency rooms? Huh? Why dontcha?"  
Hadrik just scowled at me, then muttered an insincere apology as he inched awkwardly to his sleeping bag inside his tent. He crashed into it ungracefully as he began cussing inaudibly. I watched somberly as he contemptuously zipped up his tent.  
What a moron. I wish he could grow the hell up. Hadrik can be so annoying sometimes. It's unbearable!!  
Come to think of it, every one of these morons I travel with have become so damn insufferably irritating. Besides Barry, there wasn't anyone I could have an honest heart-to-heart talk with. But Barry was gone, Kate still hated me, Hadrik was childish, and Rose was now apparently traumatized by Barry's grim departure, staggering up and down the hill as she incessantly spouted Barry's name. "Ba-ba-b.. Ba-Barry. Oh Barry-y-y-y-y! Ba.. Ba..... Ba-Barry! BARRY!!! BAAARRYYYYYY!!!!!" followed by hysterical sobbing.  
I hadn't realized how awfully broken our group had become ever since Barry and Flower had left us. I hadn't realized that it would affect us in such ways. But we were all pissed deep inside, and nobody seemed to be capable of getting over it, besides Hadrik that is. Forget that dumbass.  
After spending another hour watching Rose stumble as she blindly swayed on her feet in a bizarre way and Kate leaning on a tree trunk with an ashy complexion like a corpse that had long since gone cold, I couldn't stand it no more. Despite feeling sorry for Rose's condition, I was just so sick of these guys. Also, I came to the conclusion to leave the responsibility of all the patients with Rose. After all, she's the one who decided to create the burden in the first place. Without another thought, I packed my bag before Kate could notice and swiftly escaped into the overgrown forest.  
When I got hungry, I ate the few rations I had left in my inventory and proceeded to get as far away from the group as I could. I headed in the general direction of the Grand Market, a well guarded shop that sold everything from beef jerky to battle axes. Unfortunately, my trip did not go unobserved by the rogue goblins in the area. They caused quite a delay, so by the time I had gotten to the Grand Market, the sun was setting on the horizon.  
Knowing the guards by their full names, I was able to proficiently shop for some dried rations before I set up a small camp behind the shop. I, unlike most others, was welcome to camp nearby because I knew Jim, the shop owner, whose daughter's boyfriend turned out to be my nephew. When the two of us first met here on the first day of the tournament, we had gossiped for hours and laughed over stories of my nephew etc., so I can firmly say that we're good pals.  
When the day finally got dark, I tucked my body under my sleeping bag and assured myself that everything was going to be alright. At least I have Jim to trust. I'll do perfectly fine on my own. Teammates are useless. I don't need them... Of course I don't. They're useless, I swear that they are. Pointless people to travel with. Who needs friends to live? Who needs allies? I'm well off traveling alone. I'm good.  
Even though I tried to believe that things would turn out just fine, I lamely cried myself to sleep, thinking of Barry and Kate and Rose. 

 

Illuna  
Stifling my scream and trying not to flop like a fish, I simply flinched in Barry's arms. I can say that this was, without a doubt, the weirdest situation I'll ever be in my entire life. This was impossible to comprehend. What the actual hell is this?  
Sadly enough, my slight flinch was all that took to wake Barry up. He sighed and looked into my eyes, then sighed even more loudly.  
"Sup, Illuna," he said, like everything was extremely normal. I stared for a second.  
"Are you kidding with me right now? What the hell is going on? What is this? WHAT IS THIS???" I squirmed out of his embrace and jumped off of him, but I kept my eyes on him, waiting for direct explanations.  
"Look, Illuna, it's nothing. It's just that Flower and I have been actually... dating? Is this dating? I dunno." He then yawned as if he was unconcerned.  
"My god, where are my clothes?" I scanned the inside of the tent and found only Barry's pants and underwear. Dear god, has she been having sex with....  
I ran outside and threw up what little I had eaten last night. Uh, I was not feeling well now. Of course, I should've noticed how itchy my vagina was last night. It had felt a little rough, but I had thought nothing of it.  
Barry came out fully dressed and handed me the clothes. He was acting a bit timidly.  
"I think Flower must've put her clothes in my bag before bed. It was all there."  
"Wow, OK. Let me put them on." I shooed him away, though it seemed pointless as he'd been making out with our body for how many hours I couldn't even guess. He turned around and gallantly walked along the grass, checking his stat device.  
"It's two o'clock now," he said as a matter of fact. "I'm assuming Flower didn't tell you what we were actually planning to do. We were just gonna wait for the tournament to start. Hear some announcements."  
When finally I pulled the tank top on, I just stood there for a moment. Then I asked, "So Flower's been... 'dating' you, as you so mildly put it, for how long now?"  
"Um.. I think for about twenty four hours. Yeh, that seems about right." Barry sat on the ground and gestured for me to sit beside him.  
"No, no thanks," I almost yelled. "This is kinda serious Barry. You've been having sex with her, isn't that right?"  
Clearly guilty, he nodded.  
"I mean she's an underage Barry. That is terribly inappropriate."  
"Illuna, she's already agreed to it all. And there won't be any consequences. The body is possessed by you, a banshee, so you won't get pregnant or anything. We just really... like each other." Barry almost looked like a puppy madly in love with his owner. I sort of felt what he felt.  
"Okay..." I didn't know what else to say.  
"Also, we left Daren and everybody else because that's what we decided. I was getting tired of them anyways," Barry said.  
"Really, you don't even concern yourself with what might happen to them without your assistance in the group? What if they come across Eiden as they often do and meet their demise in a pitiful way simply because you weren't there with your witty words to fend him off? I don't know, there are always countless ways to die."  
"Well I'm not with them anymore, and if Eiden is looking for me, I'm sure he'll find me easily. I don't care about those guys anymore. To be perfectly frank Illuna, I believe I never did care about them. Sure, Rose and Hadrik can be good company sometimes, but they are not the most likable people I've met. There's always you," he said as he looked up at my eyes. I scowled at him. "I meant Flower of course, but you're not bad company, either. It's nice getting to talk to you, you know?"  
As he said this, I calmly maintained my impeccable scowling-poker-face on to seem indifferent as always, but I couldn't help but feel this gentle fluttering inside my tiny chest. What was this feeling? I've never felt it before. It was strangely rewarding..  
"Anyhow, let's hang around for a while. There's nothing to do at the moment." Barry got up and brushed the pine needles off his pants. Then he asked, right out of the blue, "Illuna, do you wanna see something? I found it last night walking along the river. It seems interesting enough."  
I shrugged. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to do anymore. There was nothing else even remotely urgent, not even Arraka to deal with, since we'd carelessly given her amulet to Hadrik, whom I couldn't bring myself to trust most of all out of the group. He's practically as immature as Flower, perhaps worse.  
We strolled along the river, and to Barry's suggestion, despite the water coming up to my waist, crossed it and stopped at one particular spot of grass. I looked around us, but there was nothing much in the area.  
"So, what is it you're trying to show me?" I demanded as I continued swerving left and right, searching for anything that was not grass or weed. When I felt Barry's hand on my left shoulder, I turned his way, only to get poked in the cheek by his extended forefinger. I angrily swatted his hand away, narrowing my eyes onto his goofy face.  
"Oh Barry, you and your never ending jokes. This must be the dumbest one out of all."  
"You still fell for it. That proves you're even dumber than the joke." He smirked.  
"Your logic is... Highly intolerable. Now seriously Barry, whatever happened to the thing you were going to show me?"  
"I was pointing towards it for you. At least I was, until you violently thrashed my hand."  
Sure enough, when I looked up and to the right, I saw the landscape of Thilias, the irregular rows of houses and towers seen from several feet above and afar. There were a few trees in the way of the picturesque view, but they did not obscure the awe I felt as I scanned the stunning villages.  
"Wow, Barry, this is... Amazing. I've never in my long years seen anything so... Spectacular. I'm... At a loss.. For words."  
"You don't need none." Barry quietly interjected as he stood beside me.  
So several minutes passed as our eyes took in the bright scenery of an afternoon in Thilias, gaping in wonder, but also resting our minds from all the irrelevant thoughts that eventually led to these indiscernible feelings of worry gnawing at the edges of our mind. For once, I was able to relax thoroughly. And queerly enough, being in the presence of Barry was more than sedative. I figured it may be since Barry was such an easy-going lad, mostly looking at things positively or even humorously. His bravery and confidence regarding the upcoming battles against all the mages were admirable, considering how modestly skilled he was in combat. To put it explicitly, Barry was a very likable person.  
After about half an hour standing still, and in absolute silence, I broke the placid air first by clearing my throat before speaking.  
"Well, what now?" I looked up at him.  
"For once, I have an answer. This view wasn't actually what I was going to show you at first. I found a cave next to the river fall a bit higher up. I thought it would make a better place to accommodate ourselves in."  
Trusting his judgements, I assented to his idea.  
We trudged back to Barry's tent and gathered our bags and headed towards the cave Barry had talked about. Thankfully, it was fairly close, having taken us a couple of minutes. The entrance was a crack in a stone wall, barely allowing us passage through. The inside was just about spacious enough for four people and two tents, with a corner where smoldering remains of a fire flickered.  
"Someone must have left this morning. Let's hope they don't come back to reclaim this cave," Barry said as he took the backpack off his shoulders.  
We set up our tents and got a fire started on the remaining ashes. Barry left to get more logs, and I sat by the fire and stared into the fiery waves, pondering what I should do about this relationship he was having with Flower. I eventually made up my mind that nothing should be done about it. If Flower was happy about it, then I guess I'll leave them be. There seemed to be not a single reason to bother this harmless relationship.  
Barry returned with an armload, which he dumped onto the fire as he sat down next to me. The sun was setting now, but of course, time was of no concern for us. We were once again still, both content with the atmosphere. I think he was satisfied anyway, the corners of his lips rising ever so slightly as his brown irises gleamed in the orange firelight, probably thinking of something.  
"Hey Barry." I turned to face him.  
He looked back at me as he replied, "Yeah what's up Illuna?" I fidgeted a little.  
"You never did tell me your side of the story. Your family and friends from the western continent. I'd like to know."  
"Well, Okay." Barry smiled. "There's not much to tell you anyway, so it'll be short. We used to be a happy family of four, running a farm and a mechanic's shop. Though I'll tell you now that it was really sis who ran the mechanic's shop. My little sister had a knack for building things, especially quartz watches. I think she may have earned almost our entire family's worth of money from selling those watches. Stick a few pieces of gold or diamond on it to make it look fancy, and the rich folks would have bloodthirsty auctions for it. They used to set up guards before the auction began, and then the people would come sit in rows fighting for my sister's extravagant watches. Oh, those were the days.." Barry paused, staring into the void, supposedly reminiscing his sister's glorious days. Then he snapped back to reality, noticing me. "So yeah. It used to be great. I... Yeah.. You know... I need to sleep now."  
I saw his eyes glistening with tears before he abruptly stood and crawled into his tent. I sat by the fire for a few moments, not sure of what I could do or say to him. Of course, I barely knew what it was like. Years ago, I had lost several friends to Arraka and other hostile spirits, but I didn't understand what having a family meant, sharing bloodlines with other people, and losing them. It was another factor missing from my diplomatic past. Despite being hundreds of years old, to the point I had stopped counting long ago, I was still utterly inexperienced in certain matters such as this.  
Feeling the defiant urge to comfort Barry, I went to his tent and cautiously pulled the flap open and sneaked a look at his inanimate body lying with both his hands over his face. Unlike humans, grieving was also something I used to have difficult time perceiving fully. My guess was that routinely surviving in harsh conditions of the wilderness probably had enormous effects to my vacant emotions. Feelings were... Hardly for banshees like me. But there, as I looked in at the unprecedented and pathetic version of Barry grieving for his family, I felt things. Unexplainable things. I figured that they might be pity and empathy, though the latter shouldn't have existed.  
According to my loosely followed morals, leaving him to suffer alone just didn't seem acceptable, so I knelt at his side in the tent and placed my small hands tenderly on his chest. I had hoped that this would make him feel less lonely, and it did accomplish this, simply not in the way I had anticipated. He gasped and asked if I was Illuna. I told him that yes it was me. Then he enclosed my hands with his, tears still flowing down the sides of his eyes, his face expressionless, yet still burning with sorrow.  
"Why are you here Illuna?" He whispered.  
"Because you're suffering." I swallowed.  
Barry's breathing remained constant, but I felt his heart pounding against the ribcage more unsteadily under our sweaty hands. He squeezed my fingers firmly before his eyelids started to fall. It was as if he were dying, not falling asleep.  
He muttered in a sad tone. "Illuna. You're an angel disguising as a devil. Sometimes.. You're.... Such a dick..."  
His released his grip as he fell into the mercifully peaceful sleep. I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to be affronted or blessed by his indecipherable words. Either way, it made me wonder about myself. Am I a dick to people sometimes? Am I like an angelic being sometimes? Those were such foolish and incomprehensible words from Barry. And yet, I couldn't help but lean down to give him a quivering kiss on the lips. It was so strange. What were these feelings?  
It was only after hours of laying on his body that I realized I loved him. 

 

Hadrik  
"I cannot believe that Daren ditched us. I just don't understand why he would do such thing," I told Arraka, who had been talking with me about Barry and Flower.  
"Reeeaally. You clowns still can't process why he left? Just look at the lot of you all. It's no wonder Barry wanted to travel without you guys. Even Flower. God, I'm gonna get to that girl at some point..." she murmured.  
"Let's talk later." I snapped the amulet shut with abhorrence. Even Arraka was pestering me these days. Having Daren or Kate scold me was enough. And now he was gone. He and his belongings had evaporated into thin air. At least, that's what I wanted to believe instead of the truth.  
I got out of my tent and walked to Kate, who was leaning on a tree with her arms crossed, her face a bit too white in the morning sun. She looked as if she'd already thrown up several times over this morning. When I approached her, I saw the gaunt slopes of her face and the messy hair that evidently hadn't been brushed in forever. She looked as if she'd aged ten years in the past few days.  
"Well, I guess we should start moving now. Rose is feeling a lot better today. She thinks she could manage a trip to Thilias. We'll see about it." She squinted in the sunlight.  
Taking a deep breath, I began to rehearse my apology. "You know Kate, I'm really sorry I couldn't help out more with whatever that drove you two insane. I've been a little off lately," I said, timing the words precisely. "I realize that I haven't been much of a contributing person in our group, and I won't let my selfishness go unobserved by any—"  
"What??" Kate interrupted with a severe frown. "Hadrik, what are you talking about? You have been of tremendous help among us, saving all our skins in every tight situation. I meant that literally, by the way. Without you, we might all have died already. Hadrik, don't you ever dare blame yourself for anything that's happened. Whatever happened, happened, and we are not going to turn back to look at it every time something or whatever happens! We are going to move on, live our lives however the hell we prefer, and when the time for our death comes, which could be either tomorrow or sixty years later, we will not allow ourselves to look back onto a single damn regret." Her voice trembled a little from the solid determination, but her words were crisp and terse. Then her cold, sharp image shattered completely and thoroughly as her eyes burst into tears and she spun around to head to her tent.  
I fell to my knees, dumbfounded by Kate's words. She was right, and yet, I couldn't forgive myself for having been a jerk recently, only thinking of the occasional card game or my beloved stash of dwarven ale. I felt so sick of myself.  
Arraka's muffled words reverberated from the amulet. I opened it warily, waiting for what she might say.  
"Uhhhhh. Finally. Hadrik, I'd been wanting to say the same thing." She paused. "That's all I had to say."  
I couldn't tell for certain if Arraka was joking or not, but this particular time, her voice did not seem to convey any mockery.  
"Thanks a lot Arraka. It means a lot, especially since I'm hearing it from you." I broke into my familiar grin.  
"Oh, you are such an impertinent dwarf, you know that?" Arraka sighed.  
I didn't know what that meant, but I assumed it was a compliment. Oh man, I was tearing up a little as well. This was unheard of for a giant of my species. I tried hard to stop.  
"I love you so much as well, Arraka. Remind me to buy you TWO shots at the tavern instead of one."  
"Hey Hadrik, I don't think you understood... Ahh, alright. You owe me two drinks it is!!! Aha-Hahahahahaha!!" 

 

Flower  
Sitting by the pile of ashes that had apparently been a fire last night, I, as an ethereal, started a silent conversation with Illuna in our mind.  
'So Illuna. When did you find out that Barry and I... liked each other?'  
I felt her scoffing inside us. 'Obviously, when I woke up naked on top of him.'  
I clasped my mouth with both my palms to avoid crying out in surprise. 'Oh I'm so sorry that happened, Illuna. I.. I'm...'  
'Look Flower, I think as long as this "dating", as Barry puts it, doesn't cause any problems later on, then I'll let it be. Don't fret over it so much.'  
'Okay. Thanks a lot Illuna,' I said to her. But there was something else in her voice that betrayed her emotions... 'Hey Illuna, you're hiding something. I can sense it, you know. I could catch you lying from a mile away, though that's not possible considering we're the same person, but you get what I mean! You're undeniably hiding something!!'  
I grinned, proud of my ability to smoke out Illuna every time she feigned honesty. I also wanted to find out what it was.  
She was quiet for a while, but I felt our face growing hot, blushing as we both often did when embarrassed. Illuna was blushing!  
Giggling at her state of hesitation, I proceeded to ask her.  
'Come on Illuna. What is it? Why is it so embarrassing?' I snickered into my hands, trying not to wake Barry.  
She eventually answered, 'Flower, I... I'll be truthful with you now... I actually seem to have... Feelings.. For Barry.'  
This response took me aback, but also made me laugh. Oh wow. Illuna likes Barry as well as I!!  
'My god, Illuna. You actually like someone. And that someone is Barry!' I tried to suppress my smile, trying to be a bit more serious for Illuna. 'You've finally learned to share your feelings with me! I'm.. This makes me so glad, Illuna.'  
Our face blushed even more, this time due to both of us feeling bashful, to the point that I could feel the scalding hotness of my neck with my fingers. Barry came out from his tent just then, and I hurriedly tried in vain to cover the scarlet skin with my arms, also tucking my legs in.  
"What are you hiding Flower?" He chuckled. "You know, sometimes, I can simply tell by your adorably conducted gestures that you're Flower and not Illuna. It's quite amusing if you ask me." He wrapped his arm soothingly around my shoulders as he sat beside me. "You okay?"  
"I'm completely fine," I yelped without moving an inch. Then I held his side with my left arm, seeking his warmth. "Oh it's nothing much, Barry. You see, I'm just so happy to find out that Illun-"  
Suddenly, Illuna took over our body with abnormal speed. Barry noticed and frowned. "Er... It's really nothing, Barry." She spouted. Then I took over the body again, wrestling over it with Illuna. "Barry! Illuna like-" "It's nothing!! Flower please, shut up-" "SHE LIKES YOU TOO!!!" I screamed at last.  
Then Illuna took control of the body again, this time a second too late. "Uh... No, Flower.. Is playing this.. Absurd joke..... I hope... I hope you understand, Barry."  
He smirked again, acting all knowingly. "I do understand. Listen, Illuna, I'm just gonna tell you that I was actually.. awake when you kissed me.. It was.... undoubtedly the best french kiss I had ever gotten in my life."  
At this point, our face was so red and hot that I expected it to explode from the excessive amount of blood rushing through our veins. Illuna was now practically stoned, unable to move at all.  
'Why did you do that Flower?' she asked.  
'Well, I had thought that maybe Barry would like to know your feelings about him, but it seems like he knew anyway,' I said, happy with how everything had turned out. Someday soon, Illuna will realize what a good person he was. We'll eventually see eye to eye about him.  
'Illuna, I'll take over from here. Maybe you should get some rest,' I suggested.  
'Eh.. Alright then. Please don't embarrass me so much, okay?'  
'I got it, Illuna. It'll be perfectly fine.'  
As it turned out, everything did not go fine like I'd hoped. It was when I was conjuring up breakfast that Eiden decided to appear out of thin air, making me jump two feet in surprise. Ugh, I hated this dude.  
"Well hello Flower! I presume you and Barry are having a sort of honeymoon at the moment? Isn't that right?" Eiden's derisive tone was tinged with lament, which I found strange.  
I held the sides of my waist and marched up to him, ignoring the considerably large difference in our size. "Hey!! What makes you think you can just barge into our camp like this? Hundreds of years old, and you still don't have the fundamental basics of mannerism for our society!!" I yelled at the front buttons of his lousy pajamas.  
Barry emerged from his tent and kindly greeted Eiden as if they were old friends. "Good morning, Eiden. I'm guessing you came to check out on me. I'm doing great."  
"In fact, Barry, I came to tell you that I'll be killing off the human population tomorrow morning or maybe even tonight. I was wondering if you had any thoughts to say on this." He smiled with delight, and Barry returned the smile with even more delight. I figured he was just acting for the sake of comedic effects. It did not work.  
"Do as you wish, Eiden. After all, you are the creator of Varathia with unlimited magic at your very fingertips that are just itching to turn everyone to dust, and this certainly gives you the privileges to massacre the 99.7 percent of the human population outside Varathia, which is, by the way, your own damned science project, for some inexistent reason, right?"  
"Yep, that sounds about right, Barry. Your speculations and judgemental values are quite formidable, and yet here you are screwing around with.. Flower." He nearly sighed as he said my name. I wanted to scorch him alive with my fire blasting hands, but I held back, knowing that trying to kill him would be like trying to break diamond with metal swords.  
"Ahem, says the one who used to screw around with a, ahem, fox, AHEM.." Barry said cruelly, with such nonchalance that it was hard to tell who had all the powers. This caught Eiden off guard, making him sway uneasily on his feet.  
"Haha-haa, Barry...., that's.. a-a very nice... er.. joke of yours. Truly... Hilariously described, indeed." For the first time since I'd met him, Eiden stuttered and swallowed sporadically. I strained to hold back a snicker. Was this for real? Or was Barry joking?  
"Look here Eiden, there are now seven people on this planet who know about your sad, sad affair." Barry went on with his brutal tactics. "Counting Flower and Illuna as two people would make it eight. Now, why don't you start taking guesses as to who they might be? If and when you become the cause of an undesired calamity that kills a large enough amount of people, my long-time friends will produce the evidence regarding your affair, immediately nailing your ass. The myriad of journalists from around the world will receive the evidence simultaneously, getting to publish the magnificent news all over the world. Headlines will say: Eiden, the creator of Varathia, has been exposed! Haha!!" Barry laughed for a second as he watched Eiden's mortified expression. He then calmly continued. "When Tyrath finds out that Eleya, the great golden fox, used to be your fiancee, he will stop at nothing to get a hold of her. It'll be pure drama."  
Eiden stammered in incoherence. Then he fell onto the floor of the cave in defeat. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked at me and Barry.  
"You beat me, Barry. I acknowledge that you did. You've caught me by the neck." He blinked a few times, as if in disbelief, before closing his eyes again.  
Barry went to stand over the crumpled body of Eiden. "I don't need your acknowledgement. I already know full well of how much of a genius I am, thank you very much. Now just leave. Before I contact my friends. Hahah! Hahahaha!!" Barry grabbed his stomach as he laughed, turning away from Eiden and sitting down in the entrance of his tent.  
Eiden shortly left without another word.  
I went to sit by Barry's left. "Barry, how did you figure that out? What... How did you know it was even true..?"  
"Oh, it was a very long train of deduction that you will not want to spend hours hearing. Let's forget about it. There's nothing to worry about anymore, with Eiden on the leash and no one else to bother us."  
"Barry, you swear you didn't make that stuff up? About there being people elsewhere ready to leak the news?"  
"C'mon Flower. Just believe me." He laid back into his tent, resting his head on his hands. "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna sleep for a couple more hours."  
"You've slept for like ten hours already! You're getting lazier by the day, Barry!" I slapped his thigh as a means of protest. Then I slowly crept onto his chest, kissing his mouth as I grabbed his shoulders.  
"Oohmff, Flower, you're slobbering on my nose," he said as I pulled away from him for a breath.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry." I giggled, not feeling sorry at all.  
"You're probably the sloppiest kisser I've ever met. But don't worry, because I'll be teaching you the correct ways in no time." Barry sat us upright into a sitting position as he held my back and kissed me full on the lips, causing the air to be sucked out of my lungs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work was partially inspired by this fanart (please check it out): https://www.reddit.com/r/Magium/comments/8omm20/relaxed/?utm_source=reddit-android


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